Yum! Brands completes $93.5 mn acquisition of Dragontail, third AI purchase in 2021
Yum! Brands completes $93.5 mn acquisition of Dragontail, third AI purchase in 2021

Yum! Brands Inc on Tuesday announced the completion of its acquisition of Dragontail Systems Limited (Dragontail), an innovative provider of technology solutions for the food industry, following the successful implementation of the previously announced share scheme of arrangement in accordance with Australian corporations law.

Yum! Brands acquired all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Dragontail for A$0.235 per share in cash or a total of approximately $93.5 million.

With today’s announcement, following the approval by the Australian Federal Court and by Dragontail shareholders and certain other regulatory waivers and rulings, Dragontail is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc.

Also Read: Yum! Brands to acquire kitchen order management and delivery technology platform Dragontail Systems

Yum! Brands estimates that this all-cash acquisition will have an immaterial impact on its 2021 financial results.

“A key growth driver for our business and our teams is the continued acceleration of our digital and technology strategy, including how we leverage our global scale with investments in technology initiatives that enhance the customer and employee experience, strengthen restaurant unit economics and provide a competitive advantage for our franchisees,” said David Gibbs, Chief Executive Officer, Yum! Brands who is excited to welcome Dragontail and look forward to deploying its AI kitchen order management, delivery and other technologies globally to their brands and franchisees over time.

Dragontail’s platform is focused on optimizing and managing the entire food preparation process from order through delivery. Its connected, intelligent, end-to-end AI-based solution automates the kitchen flow combined with the process of dispatching drivers. It helps restaurants sequence and time each order, while planning optimal delivery routes and combining delivery orders by location. The technology also offers consumer-facing capabilities that enable customers to track their order en route. In addition, it can operate with outside food delivery partners.

Delivery, which Yum! Brands offers in over 39,000 restaurants, is a key part of the company’s strategy, driven by a combination of expanded aggregator partnerships and continued investment in its own branded channels.

“Dragontail’s cutting-edge restaurant technology allows us to tap into the power of AI to optimize the end-to-end food preparation process and accelerate and further enhance our delivery technology capabilities,” added Chris Turner, Chief Financial Officer, Yum! Brands.

Dragontail’s kitchen order management and delivery technology is deployed across nearly 1,500 Pizza Hut restaurants in over 10 countries. Many Pizza Hut restaurants leveraging Dragontail’s platform have already seen a positive impact on sales, order fulfillment and customer satisfaction scores, including product freshness and delivery time.

Yum! Brands’ purchase of Dragontail also brings in house other Dragontail emerging technologies, including its QT AI camera quality control system

The addition of Dragontail to the Yum! portfolio marks the Company’s third technology acquisition in 2021. In March, Yum! Brands acquired the business of Kvantum, Inc., an AI-based consumer insights and marketing performance analytics company with a proven track record of adding significant value in enabling data-driven decisions to drive return on advertising dollars and increase sales. That same month, Yum! Brands also acquired Tictuk Technologies, a leading omnichannel ordering and marketing platform company offering more ways for consumers globally to access and order its brands through text, social media and other conversational channels.

 
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